Just the Way You Are
by Lorelai Danes
Summary: LD/LK, SF/CR - A continuation from the last scene in "Lenny's Crush"...Laverne realizes she may have feelings for Lenny. Will have more parts soon...will be rated M in future chapters.


**Just the Way You Are**

**Pairing: **LD/LK, SF/CR

**Setting: **Directly after "Lenny's Crush", a continuation from the last scene.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own these characters and do not claim ownership to these characters, the show, or anything else. This was written purely for fun.

**Author's Note:** This is going to be a multiple part fic….the reason I have it rated M is for later chapters.

_Chapter One: Laverne's Crush_

"What's the matter with you? You wanna lead him on again?" Shirley lovingly badgered her best friend. "You saw how hard he took it last time, Laverne. You can't keep playing with his heart that way. Do you want to be the kind of friend who does that?"

"No." Laverne replied glumly, with a slight childish pout. She knew her friend was right, but she couldn't help the feelings that boiled inside her body when Lenny brought that girl inside. "You're right, Shirl. I'm sorry, let's just play the game. It's my turn."

Squiggy stood up and put his arm around Laverne's shoulders. "Aw, poor Laverne, are you just jealous 'cause Lenny's got a date tonight with a pretty girl and your pitiful self is gonna be home all alone?"

Laverne elbowed him hard in the gut, to which Squiggy let out a strange noise. "No, I am not jealous. And I'm not all alone. Me and Shirl have plans to order pizza and watch movies tonight…without you."

Squiggy clutched his stomach in pain where she hit him. "Geez, aren't we touchy?"

Shirley wrung her hands nervously. "Mmm…uhh…there's been a slight change of plans, Laverne. I meant to tell you earlier...Carmine kind of asked me to go to the movies with him. Our plans just slipped my mind for a minute, so I said yes. I'm sorry."

Laverne was quiet for a second, then plopped down on the couch. "That's fine."

"Are you mad? Please don't be mad, Laverne. We can watch movies tomorrow night."

"I'm not mad. I have things to do around here anyway." Laverne reached over and grabbed this month's copy of _True Confessions_ off the end table. "I can catch up on my readin'."

"I thought you read that one already?" Shirley asked in a disgusted tone, showing her distaste for the magazine.

"Yeah, but you know I always read the dirty stories twice to make sure I didn't miss anything." Laverne said while flipping the pages angrily.

Shirley looked at her friend with a hopeful twinkle in her eye. "Laverne, look at me. You'll meet someone soon, I know it. Don't you have a date with that large man you met at the baseball game? He seemed interested."

"Yeah, that's true. We have a date for this Tuesday. I guess I can wait til then to have a good time." Laverne sighed. She wanted to turn the conversation away from her love life. "Anyway, what are you guys seein'?"

"We're not sure yet, we'll probably just decide when we get there." Shirey said while getting up. "I'm gonna go get ready, be out in a jif."

Squiggy waited for Shirley to leave before chiming in. "Maybe Shirley and Carmine don't know what they're seein' tonight…but I happen to know what movie a certain Lenny and….and…darn it, what's her name again? I'm terrible with names, I can never remember that stuff…was it Susan? No…was it Donna?"

"Squig…" Laverne whined in her distinct nasal tone. "Just get to the point."

"Oh yeah, anyway, I happen to know what movie Lenny and what's her name are goin' to see tonight…."

"Oh." Laverne said coldy, pretending not to care. She kept her eyes on her magazine. "Why should I care? Do I look like someone who should care?"

"You're hard to please for a woman who ain't got nothin'." Squiggy snidely remarked. "You seemed to care a minute ago when Lenny came in here with that mound of womanly flesh."

Laverne glanced at him icily. "Just tell me, Squig."

"I don't know if I feel like tellin' you now….after bein' punched out and yelled at…"

Laverne rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Squiggy, I did not punch you."

"Normally I would answer that, but my ribs are still a bit swollen." He said, holding his rib cage. "Owww…"

"It was a love tap! A sign of affection. Now, tell me, Squig. What movie?" She asked, dropping her magazine and listening intently to Squiggy.

Squiggy hesitated in order to tease her. "A horror movie…"

"Which one?", she demanded.

"_The Manster_----'bout this man who's half man-half monster. It's playin' over at the New View."

Laverne's eyes lit up eagerly. "Really? That sounds soo good, I wish I was goin'."

"Supposedly it's even more scarier than _The Devil's Hand_." Squiggy stated smartly, showing off his knowledge of the genre.

Laverne unexpectedly felt her heart sink a little bit. "So, this girl likes monster movies, huh?" She hastily picked her magazine back up and flipped through the pages without looking at their contents. "Well, that figures. Lenny loves monster movies. I told him to pick a girl who likes what he likes, so there ya go. He did what I said. That's good."

Laverne glanced over at Squiggy and forced an unconvincing smile. "I'm happy for him, really."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Laverne, I'll go see _Manster_ with you. My treat." He thought for a moment about what he just agreed to do. "…'cept I ain't payin'."

Laverne smiled sadly. "No thanks, Squig. I'm not really in the mood to watch other people enjoy themselves."

"Laverne, is your mind goin' a-dumb? You should go that way you could spy on 'em. Get the dirt, the low-down, the juice."

"Spy on Lenny? What would I wanna do that for? If you remember correctly, Lenny liked _me_, not the other way around. If he wants to go see a movie with some girl, why should I care? It's none of my business." Laverne stated matter-of-factly and got up to get something to drink. While she poured herself a milk and Pepsi, she saw Squiggy grinning at her.

"What now, Squig? Could you please leave?" Laverne snapped at him before taking a long sip from her glass. "What?"

"I know for a fact that this girl likes more than just monster movies, Laverne…she also likes…" Squiggy thought for a moment, trying to come up with the right words "…what I like to call 'pleasures of the flesh'."

Laverne rolled her eyes. "Squig, could you please go home? I'm not in the mood for this."

Squiggy shook his head. "Well, whaddaya think Lenny meant by sayin' he needs the place tonight? Ya think their gonna play charades all night?"

Squiggy sauntered toward the door, but turned around in the doorway. "Think about it, Laverne. What man…and by man that includes Lenny…could resist that combo?"

After Squiggy banged the door shut, Laverne shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table. "Pleasures of the flesh…", she muttered to herself. She absent-mindedly twirled her milk and Pepsi around in her glass. She felt a bit numb. "Cheap floozy…I knew she wasn't good enough for him..."

Shirley came bouncing out, looking perky and sharp in a plaid dress with a small matching jacket. She noticed Laverne's long face and walked over to her. "Laverne, I know what will make you feel better…why don't you come to the movies with me and Carmine?"

L:averne shook her head. "Nah, I'd just be in the way. You guys go."

"You're my best friend, you could never be in the way! You're going with us, I don't want to hear another word about it." Shirley insisted, grabbing Laverne and dragging her toward the door.

Laverne agreed to go and she, Carmine, and Shirley all walked to the New View Cinemas. They were all standing in line, looking up at the movie listings for that night.

Carmine kept suggesting action adventure films, to which Shirley kept disapproving.

"Carmine..." Shirley whined like a small child, "we should see a romantic love story. We are dating, you know. It wouldn't kill you to be romantic once in a while."

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Yeah, then I could hold you real close and kiss your…"

Shirley cleared her throat to remind him that Laverne was there. He glanced over at Laverne and saw the bitter expression plastered on her face. "Yeah, maybe not.", he said.

Laverne piped in when she saw _The Manster_ was listed. "Hey, how 'bout a scary movie?"

Carmine's face lit up, then looked into Shirley's eyes. "Yeah, then when you get scared, I could hold you real close and…" He cleared his throat. "Yeah, that sounds good. What's playin'?"

Laverne chimed in again hurriedly. "How 'bout _The Manster_? Carmine?"

"Sounds good." Carmine agreed and glanced at Shirley hopefully.

She looked visibly aggravated. "That sounds ridiculous. What is it even about?"

"It's about a guy who's half man-half monster, you'll love it, Shirl." Laverne answered quickly and ran over to the booth to buy her ticket.

"Laverne, you know I hate monster movies…" Shirley complained, following Laverne over to the booth.

"Oh, you'll love it, it's not a monster movie, it's more like science fiction and you know how much you love science fiction, Shirl. I'll even buy your ticket for ya." Laverne offered eagerly, trying to convince Shirley to change her mind.

Shirley pouted. "Fine, but next time we go to the movies I get to pick and we're not seein' no monster movie."

Chapter 2:

Laverne, Shirley, and Carmine walked into the movie theater talking loudly, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads in annoyance. Laverne's eyes instantly scanned the room for any sign of Lenny and his date. After a brief observation of the theater, she didn't see either one of them. This left her with mixed feelings of relief and disappointment. Suddenly, she saw Lenny's date near the front of the theater, sipping delicately on a soft drink. She was alone, without Lenny. For a second, Laverne's heart perked up, supposing that perhaps he left her and went home. But, her hopes died when she saw Lenny bumbling down the ramp clumsily holding two large bags overstuffed with popcorn. She let a weak smile cross her lips as she took note of his childlike innocence. She did not notice that Shirley and Carmine were staring at her.

"Laverne? Yoo hoo…we need to sit down. Hurry up." Shirley nagged, not knowing why Laverne was staring into space. Shirley followed Laverne's gaze and saw Lenny and date. Her expression turned to surprise, then quickly morphed into a disapproving look. She glanced at Laverne with a knowing look in her eye that said more than words could ever say. "Laverne?" She questioned her friend curiously. "Did you know Lenny would be here?"

Saying nothing, Laverne hurriedly walked through the row of seats and plopped down into one, knowing that Shirley saw Lenny and suspected something.

Shirley shook her head disapprovingly as her and Carmine sat down next to Laverne. Carmine saw the odd exchange between them and was wondering what was going on.

"What's going on with you two?" He asked, sipping his soda loudly.

Shirley shook her head. "Nothing, nothing…" She then leaned over to Carmine and whispered in a hushed voice. "Laverne is jealous because Lenny is here with that girl."

"Lenny's here now?" He whispered, surprised. "So what? Laverne don't like Lenny." Carmine said while shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth. When he saw the look on Shirley's face, his eyes began to widen in shock. He mouthed silently to Shirley, "Laverne likes Lenny?"

Shirley nodded. "Just be quiet about it."

Carmine's eyes still shone with shock. "Does Lenny know?"

Shirley shook her head and whispered. "I don't even think Laverne knows."


End file.
